IDT News Articles

IDT Affirms Its Commitment to Healthcare and Biomedical Research with $1M Donation to New University of Iowa Children’s Hospital

Coralville, IA (June 19, 2013)—University of Iowa (UI) Children's Hospital is acknowledged as one of the nation's premier pediatric health care centers and functions as a critical facility for many members of the Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) Coralville community. As the only comprehensive tertiary care center in Iowa, it not only serves the entire Midwest, but is a unique resource for specialized medical treatment for children from all over the world. As part of Iowa First: Our Campaign for Breakthrough Medicine, UI Health Care and the UI Foundation have recently embarked upon an ambitious fundraising campaign to help build a new children’s hospital. The $292 million facility will encompass a 480,000 square foot, 195 bed installation adjacent to the UI Hospitals and Clinics complex, to be completed in 2016.

IDT is one of several leadership donors supporting the new facility, underscoring the company’s commitment to human healthcare and the value of its families and their next generation. "IDT has its roots in the University of Iowa, and we are particularly pleased to partner with the Hospital in an endeavor that will have such far-reaching social benefits for our community,” said IDT Sr VP of Corporate Social Responsibility, Elizabeth Walder.

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the UI Children’s Hospital has played a particularly important role in the lives of several IDT families. All three of IDT Senior Research Assistant Kim Lennox’s children were cared for there. She recounted, “All of my children were born premature and stayed in the UI Children’s Hospital NICU. During our time there, the NICU staff was unbelievably supportive and empathetic. We will be forever grateful for the quality of care my children received. It is such a relief to know that the top-level neonatal facility in Iowa is just down the road from us to which I can whole-heartedly entrust my children.” Kim went on to point out that 12 out of 24 children born to IDT parents working in her research building alone had NICU stays for various reasons. “I am very happy to be working for a company that values family as much as IDT does,” stressed Kim. "Creating and maintaining a family centered environment has been a hallmark of IDT since its inception twenty-five years ago,” said Dr. Joseph Walder, IDT founder and CEO, “and this is why we chose to sponsor ‘The IDT Sibling Room’, so that the newborn can bond together with its siblings, parents, and extended family during this very special and critical time.”

Integrated DNA Technologies, Inc. (IDT) is the largest supplier of custom synthetic nucleic acids in the world, serving the areas of academic research, biotechnology, clinical diagnostics, and pharmaceutical development. IDT’s primary business is the manufacture of custom primers, probes, and genes for research and diagnostic applications. Today, IDT synthesizes and ships an average of 36,000 custom oligos per day to more than 86,000 customers worldwide. IDT’s manufacturing locations include facilities in Coralville, Iowa; San Diego, Calif.; Leuven, Belgium; and Singapore. For more information, visit www.idtdna.com.